Today is Daddy's last day of paternity leave and I'm beginning to feel the nerves for what things will be like tomorrow - eeekkk! ...

Monday, May 08, 2017

Baby's First Books - Chantelle - Mama Mummy Mum

Monday, May 08, 2017
BookBairn Blog
14 Comments

Today is Daddy's last day of paternity leave and I'm beginning to feel the nerves for what things will be like tomorrow - eeekkk! Will I cope with two kids all day on my own? How will I get BookBairn to nursery clothed, with her packed lunch and on time? Will I manage nap time when she gets home with teeny tiny when BookBairn is so used to her story and cuddles? What if the Wee Page Turner cries every time I put him down? How will I manage to feed them and myself? And will I be in a collapsed heap by the time Daddy returns? So many doubts and questions. Being a mum of two is still so new to me.

But an experienced mum of four is Chantelle from 'Mama Mummy Mum', she has been most supportive of book bloggers, like us, through her weekly #readwithme link-up. You will often see her link-up button at the bottom of my posts and one of my favourite weekly routines is clicking through the fellow linker-uppers and reading their book reviews - both of children's books and grown up ones too! Chantelle herself reads a wide and varied range of books and I'm always fascinated to hear what she has been reading. On a personal note, her approach to raising her four beautiful girls has been really inspiring as I find my feet raising a mighty little girl of my own! Thank you Chantelle. Here are her recommendations for books that little ones must lay their hands on...

Now the lovely Kim from BookBairn very kindly asked
if I'd write a short post for her while she has a little break, time to enjoy
her newborn and growing family. Her original request was to recommend a book
for the baby or his lovely big sister. Just to be awkward I thought I'd add a
little twist to this. Not only recommending some of my favourite books but I
also thought I'd share a few authors that the children should have the pleasure
of checking out, some now and some when they are perhaps a bit older.

Firstly let me tell you about five of the children's stories that I love and
that I've shared with all of my own kids.

* The Hungry Caterpillar, an absolute classic, this I think should be a
staple on anyones book shelf. Our copy is now almost twelve years old.

* Each Peach Pear Plum, this is a personal favourite of mine, I remember
having this read to me when I started primary school and it just stuck with
me.

* Winnie the Pooh, well this loveable character should be introduced to
every child shouldn't he. I was introduced to him when I was a baby and I done
the same for all of my girls too.

* Peace at Last, ok this is one for the parents when you think about it,
we all look forward to those peaceful moments when the kids are tucked up in
bed don't we.

* Guess How Much I Love You, this book is just a really sweet tale,
perfect for reading to a newborn.

So there's just a few books to think about, although if I'm honest I
could recommend so many more but now onto the authors. Each one offering something
slightly different, this time I'm going to try and stick with ten...

* Eric Carle

From top left: Julia Donaldson, Roald Dahl, Dr Seuss and Judith Kerr

* Julia Donaldson

* Oliver Jeffers

* J K Rowling

* Roald Dahl

* Jacqueline Wilson

* Dr Seuss

* Allan Ahlberg

* Enid Blyton

* Judith Kerr

I'd love to know what books and authors you'd recommend, what do you
remember reading as a child, what gave you that love of books?

Thank you so much for sharing your recommendations Chantelle - we really must get a copy of 'each Peach Pear Plum' as we don't have it in our collection! And how you narrowed the list down to ten favourite authors/illustrators... well done! Some real favourites in there for readers of all ages!

Hope you enjoyed this most recent guest post, to find them all clickhere.

Happy Reading,

Mummy, BookBairn and the Wee Page Turner!

How to find Chantelle:Chantelle is the writer of MamaMummyMum, she is also a wife to Mr H an mum to
four daughters. You can see more book posts over on her blog as well as a mix
of lifestyle and parenting posts including fitness, kids and food. You can also
find her over on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

What a lovely blog post MamaMummyMum - I was a school librarian first and specialised in early years so I can endorse all your smart choices. I also found that as Kim and her brother got older poetry was a great option for fun bedtimes.

I found that I adjusted to life with two quite quickly once I was forced to manage alone - fortunately for me that wasn't for a while as, due to school holidays and a visit from my mum I only had 4 days alone in the first six weeks! Some great suggestions here from Chantelle, I really like the 'Amazing Baby' books for the very early months too. #readwithme

Welcome to BookBairn! We love reading fabulous books and we enjoy sharing our favourites here on our blog. BookBairn is a huge fan of creative and inspiring picture books, and The Wee Page Turner enjoys a tasty and sturdy board book. We also share some of our baby and toddler lifestyle favourites. Hope you enjoy our recommendations.

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